University of South Florida: Academics, Cost, Ranking

Beginning in 1961, a local afternoon newspaper, The Tampa Times, covered university news in the one-page weekly “Campus Edition”. Now defunct, the newspaper was succeeded by The Oracle. First published in 1966, the weekly broadsheet was distributed every Wednesday.

Housed today in the Student Services Building of the Tampa campus, the student-run newspaper is published four times a week during the Fall and Spring semesters and twice a week during the Summer semesters. The 12,000 circulation newspaper has been recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists and the Associated Collegiate Press for excellence in journalism.

Owned by USF, WUSF (FM) first began airing in 1963. A member station of National Public Radio, the broadcast studio is located on the USF Tampa campus. Currently, the FM station broadcasts NPR and local news during the day and jazz music in the overnight hours. The station is funded by local corporate and private contributors, as well as the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and is affiliated with the Public Broadcasting Service. In 2003, WUSF 89.7 became the first public radio station in the nation to broadcast a digital signal.

Today, WUSF Public Media offers local and national news coverage, educational programming, and jazz and classical music through WUSF 89.7, WSMR 89.1, WEDQ, IntellisMedia, and WUSF New Media.

The student-run radio station at USF, now known as Bulls Radio, first went on the air in 1988. Formerly known as “WBUL” until 2009, the station broadcasts from the Marshall Student Center, where student reporters and DJs broadcast from a studio featuring a window that overlooks the Bullpen restaurant. Now one of the largest student-run radio stations in the state of Florida, Bulls Radio can be heard on 1620 AM, 88.5 HD2 or online.

USF’s hand sign is “Horns Up”, similar to Texas’s “Hook ’em Horns”. The sign is used by fans at games for good luck during field goals, extra points, free throws, etc.; and as a general greeting or show of school spirit.

Since 1995, the university has shined green lights (as opposed to the usual white lights) on its iconic water tower the night following a victory by any of the Bulls sports teams to let the campus and surrounding area know of the win. The school also lights the water tower green for special events like homecoming and commencement ceremonies.

The Bull Market is an open air weekly market that hosts a combination of vendors, student organizations, and not-for-profit organizations showcasing their products and services. The Bull Market takes place every Wednesday outside the Marshall Student Center and is one of the oldest traditions at USF.

The university has a motif of trees, with nearly 20,000 on the Tampa campus alone. The love of trees started with USF’s first president John Allen, who wanted to cover the university with them since there were zero trees on the campus when it was founded. Still today, students plant dozens of trees every year on Arbor Day. In honor of this, much of the campus is or once was named after trees.

Nearly every road at the Tampa campus is, besides Alumni Drive, LeRoy Collins Boulevard (named after the governor of Florida who signed the bill that created USF), and Genshaft Drive (known as Maple Drive until 2019 and named after former USF President Judy Genshaft, who filled the position for nearly 20 years). Many dorms are also named after trees, and the football team’s original meeting facilities were called “the Ponderosa”.^[181] In addition, the university mace is crowned with a gold pinecone which signifies both growth and that the first tree planted on campus by President Allen was a pine tree.

On the floor near the south entrance to the Marshall Student Center sits a large USF seal. Students are told at orientation that if they ever step on the seal from the time between their first ever class until their last final exam they will not graduate. However, they can reverse this “curse” if they run outside the building and rub the nose of the large bronze bull statue that sits at the bottom of the hill leading up to the south entrance within 30 seconds. The seal is roped off to prevent students from accidentally stepping on it.

For men’s and women’s basketball and women’s volleyball games, rubbing the back hoof of the bull statue outside the student entrance to the Yuengling Center is said to bring the team good luck.

At the St. Petersburg campus and Sarasota-Manatee campuses, rubbing on the horns of their respective bull statues is said to bring good luck on exams.^{[citation needed]}

Beginning in 1964, homecoming festivities are one of the longest standing traditions at USF. Events include a comedy show, a homecoming ball, a concert, a parade, and a carnival (called Carni-BULL), all leading up to the football game that weekend. Before USF’s football team was founded, homecoming took place in the spring semester and led up to a basketball game.

In 2009, Tampa mayor and USF alum Pam Iorio declared April 9 as USF Day. The celebration has evolved to include the entire week of April 9, and features events including a pep rally, talent show, battle of the bands, a birthday celebration for Rocky the Bull, and Bullstock, a music festival which features multiple artists and is opened by the winner of the battle of the bands competition the day prior.

Residence Hall One on the St. Petersburg campus gives a great view of IndyCar’s annual Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, held in March or April. Students on the St. Petersburg campus traditionally attend watch parties with their friends in the hall to watch the race, which runs through the streets of downtown St. Petersburg. Most of the course is visible from north and east-facing rooms, but the finish line can only be seen from east-facing rooms.

USF’s fight song, the Golden Brahman March, is named after the original USF mascot. In 1962, students voted to make USF’s mascot the Golden Brahman, a breed of cattle, because of the state’s history in cattle raising.^[22] Although the university mascot has since evolved into the Bulls, the fight song name preserves the history of this USF icon. In 2011, the university athletics department launched a campaign to encourage students, faculty, staff, and fans to memorize the song. Today, incoming students are taught the song, along with other USF cheers, during new student and transfer orientation sessions.

“The Bull” (also known as Number 8) is a rallying cry played by the USF Herd of Thunder marching band that encourages fans to stand up and circle the “Go Bulls” hand symbol above their heads.

USF is somewhat unique among colleges in that it has both a fight song and a victory song, March Victorious. March Victorious is played by the Herd of Thunder after every USF win in football and basketball, but unlike the Golden Brahman March or alma mater, is not played at games of sports that do not feature the band and is not played after losses, whereas the fight song and alma mater are played regardless.

During the Golden Brahman March and other USF songs, fans will circle the “Horns up” hand symbol above their heads.